FUN FACTS

Unlike most cranes, crowned cranes lack folds in their windpipes making their voices very different from other cranes.

2.

Crowned cranes occasionally roost in trees, a trait not seen in other cranes.

3.

These cranes are often considered the living fossils of the crane family. They were able to survive the Ice Age in the savannas of Africa.

ECOLOGY AND CONSERVATION

These cranes are important to the wetlands they live in as grazers on vegetation and as predators of small animals. Habitat destruction has been their greatest threat. As wetlands are drained for agricultural expansion these flock must move to find suitable habitats. They are also easy targets for egg collectors and poachers because of their conspicuous plumage.